Singlestream

Single-Stream Recycling in Boulder County

Boulder County recycling bins have evolved for the 21st century. Instead of diligently separating recyclables into two “streams” — mixed paper (newspaper, junk mail, etc.) and commingled containers (bottles, cans, etc.) — recyclers whose materials go to the Boulder County Recycling Center are now able to put these two streams together in one bin.

The new program is called “single-stream” recycling. It’s the future for responsible resource conservation and an important step toward meeting our goal of building a Zero Waste community by 2020. Single-stream recycling makes it almost as easy to use the recycling bin as it is to use the trash can, so for the previously unconverted, there’s no excuse for not recycling. It also creates a significant opportunity for communities to get a lot closer to their Zero Waste goals through a revolutionary new system called Three Bin Collection. With all your recyclables collected in one can, communities and recycling haulers can plan to use the second can for compostable materials like food scraps and yard waste, making it possible for you to recover up to 80% of your discards. That leaves little need for that third can, the trash.

Single-stream is new, it’s different from how we’ve collected recyclables in the county for the past three decades, and there are a lot of questions associated with it. Use the menu below to find the answers to your questions.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Let’s start with the basics — What is single-stream recycling?

A. Single-stream isn’t anything fancy. It simply refers to a new system that takes the two recycling “streams” collected through the Boulder curbside program — mixed paper and commingled containers — and puts them together in one bin. Voila. Single-stream. Two bins, now one. It is still important to follow the same guidelines applied to the two-bin program, except you put the two streams together.

Q: Why are we moving to single-stream?

A. Using just one collection bin for all your recyclable items increases the ease and convenience of recycling so that more people participate and more resources are saved. We’re making recycling easier for you — at home, at work and on the go.

Single-stream offers more efficient collections for the haulers who normally have to run two recycling routes to collect the two streams. This decreases the most costly part of recycling programs as well as the pollution from collection vehicles. And most importantly, as we mentioned, it opens a bin up for collecting compostable materials like food scraps and yard waste. Composting these materials prevents the release of methane, a greenhouse gas 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. Read more about the importance of keeping organics out of landfills and how wasting impacts climate change.

Q: But I don’t mind sorting my materials. Isn’t it better for recycling if we separate them like we’ve been doing?

A. We hear you. We’ve been addicted to sorting, too. But even those of us long-term recyclers who got to participate in Boulder’s pilot single stream program in 2006 found we became hooked on the new single-stream system once we tried it. It is always good for recycling when the materials are properly sorted at “the source,” a.k.a. your home, school or office. And, sorting is still critical in that you make absolutely sure you’re recycling only the items accepted. It is also good for recycling if ever-increasing amounts of material are kept out of the landfill and sold in good clean condition to the remanufacturing companies that make new products from recycled material. Single-stream helps to increase this volume of materials.

Q: How are the materials separated?

A. The Boulder County Recycling Center has installed new sorting equipment to automatically sort many of the materials. With the new equipment, there are screens to separate “flats” (paper) from “rounds” (containers). For this reason, we ask that you do not flatten containers or the screen will sort them into the wrong bin. You can check out the new sorting equipment by watching our video or in person by taking a tour of the facility at 1901 63rd St in Boulder. Self-guided tours are available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or contact Boulder County at 720-564-2220 for a guided tour.

Q: Doesn’t this lower the value of the materials, and won’t there be a lot of contamination?

A. Not necessarily. One of the concerns associated with single-stream recycling is that one bin tends to encourage people to suddenly put EVERYTHING that seems recyclable in it. That’s why we need YOU to help demonstrate that a community full of educated, conscientious recyclers can make single-stream recycling a success. Download the latest guidelines and check out our list of worst contaminants to help us keep these problem items out.

Q: Are other communities using single-stream recycling?

A. Yes. Other communities diverting 50%, 60%, even 70% of their waste from the landfill have achieved these goals in part by switching to single-stream. Some of the communities currently using single-stream include San Francisco, Toronto, Denver, Tucson, San Jose, Philadelphia and Dallas.

Q: Won’t the paper get wet if I recycle my commingled containers with the paper? Doesn’t that make the paper non-recyclable?

A. The paper mills allow up to 5% moisture in the paper they buy from Eco-Cycle, so it’s not a problem. As always, we do ask that you empty and rinse all your containers to keep food contamination out of your bin. But moisture will not ruin the paper. Part of the recycling process for remanufacturing paper includes water, so it is not a contaminant.

Longmont’s program was also be expanded to include corrugated cardboard, phone books and paperboard materials like cereal boxes.

Q: I participated in the city of Boulder’s pilot program where one bin was provided for single-stream and an additional bin was given to us for compostable materials like food scraps (including meat, fish, bones, dairy and fatty oils that cannot go in your typical backyard composting bin), yard waste and paper towels, tissues, etc. Are we getting that collection service again?

A. We’ve said it, but it’s so important it's worth repeating: One of the primary reasons to switch to a single-stream program is to enable a thre-bin collection program — one for recyclables, one for compostables and one for “whatever’s left” (garbage). Most communities already intending to participate in single-stream also have the intention of adding compost collection service at some point in the near future. The city of Boulder is considering adding the service at the same time single-stream begins. Unincorporated Boulder County residents will get the benefits of a “pay-as-you throw” system as well as composting at the curb at the same time single-stream is implemented. Other communities are looking at adding composting service after single-stream is running smoothly, or soon there after.

Dirty Dozen Recycling Contaminants

Below is our Dirty Dozen hit list of the worst recycling contaminants that must NOT go in the recycling bin.

One of the challenges to single-stream recycling is the increase in contamination. Folks tend to get a little recycling happy, tossing additional items into the bin. But, sending us non-recyclable materials jeopardizes the success of the whole program.

Please help make single-stream recycling a success by keeping these materials OUT.

The Recycling Bin's Dirty Dozen

1. NO Plastic Bags

Plastic bags are the WORST contaminant in the recycling bin. When placed in a curbside bin, they get wet and dirty and cannot be recycled. Plastic bags with a #2 or #4 can be recycled at the CHaRM if they are clean, dry and empty. They may also be recycled at participating grocery stores; find a list of participating stores.

2. NO Materials in Plastic Bags

Workers have to slow the conveyor belts to rip open bags that contain recyclables and then add the bag to the heap of bags bound for the landfill. These inefficiencies waste time and money.

3. NO Shredded Paper

Shredded paper is too small to sort—the pieces fall through the cracks of the sorting machines, stick to the belts and end up all over the floor. Please avoid shredding when possible because it destroys the potential for recycling. Compost shredded materials in your curbside compost bin (if you have one) or recycle them with paperboard at the Longmont or Boulder Recycling Drop-off Center.

4. NO Scrap Metal

Scrap metal items of any size should not go in your curbside bin. These items cause excessive damage to the recycling equipment. Please take these materials to the CHaRM in Boulder or the Longmont or Nederland Recycling Drop-off Center--look for the bin marked "Scrap Metal.".

5. NO Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste such as paint, automotive fluids, car batteries and pesticides must be taken to the Boulder County Household Hazardous Waste Facility, not the Recycling Center. Learn more about what's considered hazardous and how to properly manage it, or call 720.564.2251 for more information.

6. NO Diapers or Other Bio-Hazardous Waste

Syringes and needles, diapers and other sanitary products are not recyclable. Check out our A - Z Recycling Guide for information about handling sharps safely.

7. NO Non-Recyclable Plastics

While we have added new plastic items, many plastics are still not recyclable. Plastic lids, foam (Styrofoam®) and any other plastics not listed in our recycling guidelines are not recyclable because stable markets do not exist for these materials.

8. NO Flattened Containers

The single-stream sorting equipment separates "flats" (paper) from "rounds" (containers). When containers are flattened, the equipment mistakenly sends them to the paper side of the facility, significantly contaminating the paper we're sending to market.

9. NO Caps or Lids on Glass Bottles or Jars

Metal lids can be removed and recycled loose in the bin. Plastic lids and caps from glass bottles and jars should be thrown away.

10. NO Liquids

When we compact bottles for shipping, liquids drip, splatter and explode all over the floor, creating a sticky, smelly mess on the sorting floor. Please completely empty and quickly rinse out all containers before recycling.

11. NO Ceramics or Non-Recyclable Glass

Ceramic, china, dishes, mirrors, light bulbs, Pyrex®, porcelain and window glass should not go in the bin! Their different melting points and chemical compositions will ruin new glass bottles. If our buyer sees just one of these on the top of a load of glass, the entire load could be rejected.

12. NO Frozen Food Containers

Paperboard boxes that were designed for freezer foods, such as frozen pizza and entrées, have a plastic polymer sprayed on them to protect against freezer burn. That same coating prevents the box from breaking up in the recycling process. These materials are not recyclable OR compostable.